Patriotic Front (PF) Member of Parliament for Bwana Mkubwa Constituency Dr. Jonas Chanda has has strongly condemned the dispossession and displacement of over 800 Zambians from land they have lived and farmed on for over 26 years in Ndola’s Chichele area.
He was speaking when he addressed the aggrieved families in Chichele area of Bwana Mkubwa Constituency in Ndola. Dr Chanda said the indiscriminate land displacements of Zambians to accommodate foreigners in Chichele and other parts of the country is the reason the PF government has developed the National Land Policy which will be finalised soon, and which must state that Land Ownership is a Sovereign Right of Zambians, not of Foreigners. Zambia has had no land policy since 1964.
[pullquote]Zambians can not be displaced like animals in their own country to accommodate a foreign investor[/pullquote]
Chairperson for the displaced families Mr Abraham Manda explained that the contested land in Chichele was a State Farm under the Dairy Produce Board in the UNIP government in the 1970s and 1980s where cattle were reared and milk was being produced. The displaced people are former casual workers and their families at the State Farm. When the MMD government came to power in the 1990s the Dairy Produce Board collapsed under the Privatization program, and a former DPB Farm Manager a Mr Mutambo was given 300 of the 3,000 hectares of land as his retrenchment package since the company had no money. The farm casual workers continued living on the rest of the farm cultivating with their families.
Mr Manda further said that when Mr Mutambo sold the land to a South African company Golden Lay who deal in chicken eggs some years back, the original land title he had was only for 300 hectares of land. Under unclear circumstances the 300 hectares land title was later changed to 3,000 hectares at Ministry of Lands offices in Ndola and then Mr Mutambo sold the entire 3,000 hectares to Golden Lay and relocated to live in the UK.
Mr Manda says thereafter the farm casual workers and their families were forcefully chased from their small farms by individuals hired by Golden Lay with support of some Police officers. Only 47 former farm workers were compensated with 200 hectares of land while the rest are still stranded. The matter has been in court several times, with the last ruling being in favour of Golden Lay Company.
In response, Dr Chanda says displacement of Zambians without compensation or alternative land is a MORAL issue, not a LEGAL issue, as Zambians can NOT be displaced like animals in their own country to accommodate a foreign investor. He says it is totally unacceptable that 800 plus Zambians are now landless in their own country when Zambia has plenty of land of 752,618 square kilometres, the 39th largest country in the world in terms of land mass with a relatively small population of about 15 million people.
He has promised the affected families that he is taking up the matter urgently with Minister of Lands Hon Jean Kapata and other Land management bodies in Lusaka as well as tabling it in Parliament until JUSTICE is done. He says there should be no displacement from land without compensation or alternative land, and condemned sale of huge tracts of land to foreigners by some unpatriotic Zambians at the expense of fellow Zambians.
Issued by:
Hon. Dr. Jonas Chanda
Member of Parliament,
Bwana Mkubwa Constituency,
Ndola
OMG these white south africans have ran away from Julius Malema in South africa and now displacing Zambians in Zambia!! Shocking. Mama give us a sign!!
Golden Lay is a good company. The eggs are delicious. Sorry settlers, You talk too much. /stop being jealous
Crying wont help.
Its a godame shame what is happening here. Whilst in other parts of Africa people are fighting for land expropriation without compensation, here we are busy displacing the settlers to the preference of foreigners. Chong Chong!!
Only under Lungu can this happen.
All the land in Zambia will be sold to foreigners by Lungu. Citizens will then be driven into Congo, and Lungu will settle down in Swaziland or Uganda.
Only in Zambia are citizens treated like foreigners.
This is not acceptable.
This article is full of loose ends …so how can 2700 hectares simply lay idle and how are farm workers allowed to illegally settle on it. How can a former DPB Farm manager be given 10% of the land as retirement package. Those 800 people were not supposed to there in the first place…stop politicking Jonas!!
In RSA, Zim & rest of Africa, Land is being grabbed at a dear price from foreigners & being distributed to the real owners.
In Zambia, VIPUBA VI PF are doing the opposite. Auctioning our prime land, markets, Game parks, State institutions to tu ma Chiinese, Boers, Lebanese, Indians etc.
In China, these chinese are NOT allowed to own land. Here, they’ve found paradise in a corrupt PF regime.
Make sure you all register to VOTE a new government.
This is not good news. Zambians have the right to own land. It is even surprising that the councils are so negative about giving land to Zambian but very quick to give to a foreigner. Shame!!!
Read the whole article..oh maybe you don’t just care!!
but how was one allowed to change title from 300 hectares to 3000!! i smell a rat
This Hon. Dr. Jonas Chanda is one stupid man for an MP..he is even justifying reason why his govt is implementing the National Land Policy and using foreigners as scapegoats yet its the ministry that was alseep when 300 hectares changed to 30000 hectares. I wonder what doctorate he has..
“….Under unclear circumstances the 300 hectares land title was later changed to 3,000 hectares at Ministry of Lands offices in Ndola and then Mr Mutambo sold the entire 3,000 hectares to Golden Lay and relocated to live in the UK….”
Can the docile inept equally corrupt ACC engage Interpol to question this mutambo , instead of concentrating on lungus enemies and the opposition
The Ministry of Land is one of the most corrupt. Edgar must show leadership by nullifying this land sale, KK wouldn’t have allowed this. This displacement of peasants will soon cause serious civil strife. Golden Lay have the resources to develop any land anywhere, they should be offered an alternative in Mpongwe. The legal jargon shouldn’t disadvantage the indigenous people. If Zambians can’t be honored in their own country, where else will they be respected?
Expropriate that land quickly without compensation
Those are some of the side effects privatisation done by our lovely president HH The president of UPND and the Tongas.
Usually copperbelt was just a place to stay when u are working not to stay permanently. Ask those people to go back to their villages. They bought houses and now there are renting those houses because they have no money and now they are pretending to be victims.
People of Zambia learn to think and don’t just feel pity without thinking. Those people are playing on your Minds.
My message to those crying is “go back to your villages where u came from and prepare to vote for HH who sold the mines for the benefit of himself and his wife Mutinta.
comments by boys born in 1986, shame
So this farmland belonged to former Dairy Produce Board (DPB) and the people displaced were former farm workers who resided on the land …come on Hon. Dr. Jonas Chanda what has this got to do with National Land Policy….you are simply exposing how PF are contaminated the whole sytem.
“Under unclear circumstances the 300 hectares land title was later changed to 3,000 hectares at Ministry of Lands offices in Ndola and then Mr Mutambo sold the entire 3,000 hectares to Golden Lay and relocated to live in the UK.”
Only under Hallucinates can this happen.
This fulfilment of PF manifesto is meant to deliver development in Ndola. Mr Chanda’s resolve to undo what PF government promised to Zambians will not only frighten investors but is in bad taste for more money in the pockets. Take those poor Zambians to N/Western province with vast uncativated land
Those people should not have been there in the first place. They were on someone’s farm. What were thy given after retirement were they not given packages so that they can leave that place. Time has caught up with them. If they were not given their packages and it was a parastatal then the government should compensate them not the one who bought a farm from someone who got his package. So PF government have to compensate these people and find land for them. Give them their packages. It also seems this MP is questioning the independence of the judiciary he has no confidence in them for the company owning the land to win the case. If he is questioning that he is also questioning what the president says that the judiciary is independent and that we can trust it.
“In response, Dr Chanda says displacement of Zambians without compensation or alternative land is a MORAL issue, not a LEGAL issue, as Zambians can NOT be displaced like animals in their own country to accommodate a foreign investor. He says it is totally unacceptable that 800 plus Zambians are now landless in their own country when Zambia has plenty of land of 752,618 square kilometres, the 39th largest country in the world in terms of land mass with a relatively small population of about 15 million people.”
He is politicking …trying to look useful to his voters ..using foreigners as scapegoats. They only see money when they see a foreigner..trying to bully them and passing the buck!!
Like Dr.Chanda has observed,there is just something immoral about displacing 800 families instantly,especially when they have stayed there for so long and they are, of course, indigenous Zambians.Why are we so heartless against ourselves?
If chief chiwala can displace his own people who have stayed for over hundred year in preference to the indian
for his own benefit and selfishness,what of the council people.These *****s are very corrupt and never think of
others.
Develop the land. Give them alternative land. Build homes for them. It must be a win-win situation. Displacement of people is not a new thing. It happens all over the world. The only thing is that there must be meaningful compensation. Lets develop this thing. It will never be president. At least in my lifetime.
That is what happens when processes breakdown – usually due to greed and kick backs. The issues/questions are or should be; Were the rest of the workers compensated when Mr Mutambo was ‘paid’ 300 hectares? They were all workers and needed a parting package. If the rest of the workers were also paid, what was the status of the remaining 2700 hectares? If Mr Mutambo was ever only awarded 300 hectares, he had no right to sell the other 2700. If the workers were never awarded anything and were allowed to live on the land all these years, they have a claim to it. Legally, a long-term squatter can become the registered owner of property or land they’ve occupied without the owner’s permission – they need to show they have been there for a long time, acted as owners and derived a livelihood…
… from it. Land laws have always existed (have certainly needed upgrading) and once upon a time were largely observed. They fitted into the prevailing economic system (wrongly or rightly) With the MMD’s decision to liberalize the economy completely, in practice things changed – coupled with new ways to own property, sell to private people/corporations and new ways to steal and gain from kick backs. Greed has invariably set in and processes have been thrown out the window. The weak and vulnerable, in the face of the new alliance between government and powerful landed entities, are being trampled over without regard to any entitlements they may have acquired under the law – nor is there any humanity left in the scramble for prime resources.
According to the squatters representative the court has already ruled in favour of golden lay. In that case they should just follow the court order and move from there. They are actually there illegally.Just because you have been doing an illegal thing for 26 years does not make it legal.
Duuhhh
Is this the same PF govt that gave away NRDC (over 1000) ha of prime Lusaka land to Chinese ?
The same PF govt that gave Chichele lodge to Indians ?
That have mortgaged the title deeds of Zambia to Eurobond holders ?
Sold off RTSA to lebanese ?
Sold off Olympic Swimming Pool to Chinese ?
Wahaha. What a joke !
Duu H is the same Childish who sold and profited from our national Hassets and then began money laundering in Panama (Tax Haven) and buying land in Namwala from Hatribes’ chiefs exponentially.
It is amazing how Hatribes United always try to find fault with the government and HaRight with Childish.
Comment:THE ISSUE AT HAND HERE COUNTRY MEN AND WOMEN WE DON’T FEAR GOD HENCE WE DON’T RESPECT AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER THE POOR ARE NOTHING. CHANGE TITLE FROM 300 TO 3000 THE PRESIDENT CONSENTED THROUGH THE COMMISSIONER OF LAND COURTS ALSO IT’S ANOTHER STORY ACC,DEC SITET ALL THESE BODIES WENT WITH KAUNDA ZAMBIA JS NOT AN EXCEPTIONAL WHAT LEGANCY DO WE LEAVE TO OUR CHILDREN AND GRAND,GRAND CHILDREN IT’S FIGHTING LET’S PROTECT GUARD OUR LAND.WE HAVE ONLY ONE MOTHER ZAMBIA GOD GIVEN LAND AND HOME.
bring back this Mr mutambo from UK, its not very difficult,how can 300 to 3000 its total criminal ,lands officials must be involved in this issue.ant corruption commission should take interest in this matter
This is a legal matter.
Manda, the South African Company and the Ministry of Land office have a matter to explain.
800 families languishing with one Manda family enjoying the benefits of DPB’s closure.
Sorry….
Mr Mutambo, not Manda,
ILLEGAGALLY OBTAINED LAND NEED TO BE CONFISCATED
Golden lay obtained or bought land illegally by buying 3000. The title deed from Mr Mutambo under which the Golden lay obtained/bought the land was illegally obtained . Golden lay should be evicted first and foremost from the 2700 hectares . That portion of land which was obtained illegally should be confiscated by the state as ” evidence “of the illegal transaction. Until the allegations are tested and resolved the 2700 hectares do not belong to Golden lay but the state. Mr mutambo needs to come and testify. We need a brave and SELFLESS LAWYER to protect our DEFENCELESS people. PF is pro poor. May be this is in itself a test of their PRP POOR pronouncement.